Saturday, December 02, 2006

I'm reading every Aquaman solo adventure in publication order, one per day. After I read each story I'm going to post the cover/splash page and a few thoughts on the story.

More Fun #103 (May 1945) - The Professor Goes to School!

Aquaman corrects a fish expert on land about where chaetodon triangulum lives, setting the professor off on an ocean adventure to confirm Aquaman's report.

On his way to a war bonds rally in Gotham, Aquaman stops off at Professor Kenyon's lecture on Butterfly Fish, aka chaetodon triangulum. Kenyon insists the species he is talking about only exist in Madagascar, but Aquaman says they live near Samoa as well. However, Kenyon has never heard of Aquaman (although the other people at the lecture have). Still, because the existence of the fish in Samoa will demolish Kenyon's theory, he charters a boat to the islands to find out for himself.

First mention of Gotham in an Aquaman story, although that could easily be the nickname and not the DCU city. We'll pretend it's the DCU city... Aquaman goes in disguise so he won't be mobbed by autograph seekers. His disguise is a green trenchcoat and sunglasses... Aquaman is a big success at the war bonds rally... Aquaman rescues Kenyon from drowning in a hurricane, which is only fair since Aquaman's words sent the poor guy into the hurricane in the first place... To rescue the ship, which is taking on water, Aquaman puts crude oil on the surface of the ocean, calming the waters enough for the crew to make repairs. We won't talk about the possible environmental impact of Aquaman opening an oil field on the sea bottom... In a comic book twist of fate, Kenyon's ship anchors near another ship crewed by pearl poachers. They think Kenyon's ship is a rival gang of pearl thieves, and decide to take them out... Aquaman and Kenyon team up to take down Hurricane Hinks' Pearl Poaching gang... Kenyon seems surprised by Aquaman freeing the chaetodon triangulum after showing them to the professor. Apparently he really does know nothing about Aquaman.

Finny Friends Report: Aquaman notices fish diving to deeper, calm waters and realizes there is a storm above. To save Kenyon's ship, he has a narwhal drill a hole in the ocean floor to release oil. Shortly after he gets large fish or dolphins to pull the ship to harbor. When Aquaman cannot open the bathysphere, he gets a giant starfish to pry it open for him. And lastly, he captures some chaetodon triangulum for Kenyon.

Captured/Knocked Out report: Aquaman is not capture or knocked out in this tale.